The present invention relates to a gymnastic harnessing and guiding apparatus for a horse.
A large number of "rein arrangement" systems are known for dressage, such as the systems called "Gogue" or "Chambon", devised with a view to imposing on the horse a predetermined posture which will dominate it, and to rectifying a bad posture or obliging the horse to take a gymnastic work position intended to stretch certain muscles or to develop others.
Such systems, which are all joined to the horse's mouth or nose, are meant to oblige the horse to bend or to bow its head which it tends to carry too high when struggling against the hand, this curving its back in.
The "Gogue rein arrangement" essentially consists in a triangulate breast-neck-mouth system, closed over itself (independent rein arrangement) or over the hand (control rein arrangement) and sliding over headstall pulleys and in the rings of the snaffle. It presses on the neck and on the mouth of the horse and its effect is either to lower the head and the back of the neck, or to bend the head on the neck. The effect of this rein arrangement irresistibly leads the horse towards a downwards extension in order to avoid the high bending of the rein arrangement. When the horse has accepted it, said horse then indulges into deep inclinations of the head, and it is often difficult to make it up again.
It is therefore obvious that such a rein arrangement involves perverted effects which can even be dangerous when the horse is mounted by an inexperienced rider.
Moreover, the "Gogue rein arrangement" acts mainly by pulling on the bit when the horse raises its neck or pulls it back. The bending of the head over the neck which the "Gogue" imposes is an artificial one, it compresses the throat and induces the horse to curve its dorsal spine in. This curving in movement hinders the locomotor abilities of the horse and merely accentuates the harmful effects of the rider's weight. Another perverted effect of the "Gogue" system is that it induces the horse to roll its head on the neck, the nose reaching inwards of the vertical.
The "Chambon rein arrangement" joins the horse's mouth to its breast while passing over the back of the neck. The action of this arrangement causes a harsh strain on the horse upon which obedience on the part of the horse is accompanied by a reaction of defence against the bit while the horse holds its head and neck constantly down.
The object of this rein arrangement, contrary to the "Gogue" arrangement, which primarily induces the head to bend over the neck, is above all to obtain a fixed position for re-educating the incurving of the spine by pushing the nose down to the ground. Indeed, this strained posture induces a forced stretching of the muscles and tendons which throws back the neck and incurves the back (thus hindering their development). Moreover, this posture places the horse in a forward sloping position (with its haunches being higher than the withers), thus removing all motor possibility to its hind legs, which are used mainly for preventing the horse from failing than for propelling it.
Another known system, called "Pessoa rein arrangement" which is also coercive, joins the horse's mouth to its hock ligaments passing over a surcingle. Compared with the aforementioned systems, this rein arrangement has the advantage of trying to develop the engaging work of the legs and to develop the back muscles of the horse. It enables galloping work, but is not usable when the horse is mounted. Moreover, this rein arrangement, by setting up a joint between the hock's ligaments and the mouth, imposes a fixedly strained position of said ligaments with respect to the mouth, this preventing the horse from stretching itself.
None of the known rein arrangements really tend to reverse the natural incurving of the horse's spine or to induce said horse to use its spine as a motor element of its locomotion.